Twin track cartridge stereoscopic viewer

ABSTRACT

A stereoscopic viewer employs a film strip having two tracks of matched stereoscopic prints or frames which are wound in a magazine for reel-to-reel transport between spaced-apart reels and a binocular eyepiece slidably mounted on the magazine whereby the magazine can be shifted to view the frames in one track as the film is advanced in one direction by the reels and to view the frames of the other track as the film is advanced in the opposite direction or can be intermittently shifted to the adjacent track for correlating related information on the two tracks.

United States Patent 1191' Brassington 1 Mar. 27, 1973 [54] TWIN TRACKCARTRIDGE STEREOSCOPIC VIEWER [75] Inventor: Samuel M. Brassington,Concord,

Calif.

[73] Assignee: Material Flow Inc., Chicago, 111. 22 Filedz Nov. 24, 196921 Appl.No.: 879,166

[52] Cl ..350/135 [51] Int. Cl ..G02b 27/22 [58] Field of Search..350/l35, 133,134, 140;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,957,043 4/1934 Harlow..350/134 X 2,674,152 4/1954 Wilkinson ..350/134 X 1,510,470 10/1924Dunlany et a1. ..350/135 2,257,444 9/1941 Abadjieff r ..355/75 3,288,02711/1966 Ruzicka ..355/75 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 188,930 4/1956Austria ..350/l40 339,231 3/1907 France ..350/l34 617,514 2/1927 France..350/134 1,017,734 12/1952 France 350/135 Primary ExaminerDavidSchonberg Assistant ExaminerPaul A. Sacher Att0rneyFryer, Tjensvold,Fei-x, Phillips & Lempio 57 ABSTRACT A stereoscopic viewer employs afilm strip having two tracks of matched stereoscopic prints or frameswhich are wound in a magazine for reel-to-reel transport betweenspaced-apart reels and a binocular eyepiece slidably mounted on themagazine whereby the magazine can be shifted to view the frames in onetrack as the film is advanced in one direction by the reels and to viewthe frames of the other track as the film is advanced in the oppositedirection or can be intermittently shifted to the adjacent track forcorrelating related information on the two tracks.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEnuARzmn SHEET 1 or 2 INVENTOR. SAMUELM. BRASS/NGTO/V BY j g ATTORNEYS PATENTEUHARZHHYS SHEET 2 OF 2 FIG. 2.

FIG 3.

I NVEN'TOR. SAMUEL MBRASS/NGTO/V ATTORNEYS TWIN TRACK CARTRIDGESTEREOSCOPIC VIEWER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Stereoscopic viewers,stereoscopes, have been employed for many years and employ matchedstereoscopic photographs of slightly off-set views of the same scene tocreate the sensation of depth (a three dimensional effect) when thesephotographs are viewed side by side in a stereoscope.

Some of the first stereoscopes employed cards having the matchedstereoscopic photographs printed on individual cards which were manuallychanged to change the scene, each card having a separate scene. Morerecently the cards have been replaced by discs having a plurality ofperipheral windows in which the matched stereoscopic photographsdiametrically in the windows. The disc can be turned an interval tobring a new scene into viewing field..Since the separation of thematched stereoscopic photograph is the inner ocular distance to keep theoptics simple, only a limited number of scenes can be placed on thesediscs. I

As a result, both the individual cards and the disc arrangements instereoscopes require the user to constantly change cards or discs. Theconstant handling of the cards and discs often damages them and wherecolor transparencies are employed as the stereoscopic photographs, thishandling can cause serious deterioration of transparencies. In addition,the cardsand discs are quite costly to manufacture along with theinconveniences experienced when they are used in a stereoscope.

An object in the present invention is to provide a stereoscopic viewerwherein manual handling of the matched stereoscopic photographs is notrequired and in which special mountings or supports therefor can beeliminated.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide an economicalstereoscopic viewer which can contain numerous scenes in a replaceablecartridge magazine.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a twin trackreel-to-reel stereoscopic viewer having increased convenience andincreased capacity.

A number of other objects and advantages will be apparent from thedescription of the new stereoscopic viewer and the attached drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A twin track stereoscopic viewer includes acartridge magazine having a pair of spaced-apart reels mounted thereinfor reel-to-reel transport of a film load with twin tracks ofstereoscopic photographs which magazine also has a viewing aperturebetween the reels for viewing the twin tracks, and a binocular eyepiecehaving framing windows slidably mounted on the magazine over the viewingaperture whereby the eyepiece can be shifted so its framing windowsregister with one track or the ouher track during reel-to-reel transportof film load by manually turning the reels.

When the film load is composed of color transparencies, a lightadmitting aperture can be formed in the magazine behind the viewingaperture and covered by a translucent light diffuser to providebackground light.

are mounted Internal guides are employed to insure proper film transportand the sliding movement of the binocular eyepiece can be restrictedwith stops to achieve proper registry of the framing windows with thetwin tracks of stereoscopic photographs when it is shifted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT A twin track stereoscopic viewer 10is illustrated in FIG. 1 and includes a magazine 11 and a binoculareyepiece 12 as its principal components.

The magazine 1 l, which is detachable from the eyepiece 12, includes ahollow case 13 which is oval in cross section and has two flat parallelsurfaces. The open ends closed by end plates 14 that cap the ends of thecase with associated flanges 15. Mounted in a pair of spaced apertures16 in each end plate and extending between the end plates arecylindrical reels 17. These reels have their end portions 18 whichproject through the apertures in the end plate reduced in diameter sothat resulting shoulders 19 on the central portion of each reel restricttheir reel from any axial drift through abutment against the insidesurfaces of the end plates.

The spaced-apart reels 17 which extend inside the case 13 between theend plates 14 are located on opposite sides of the flat surfaces of thecase and form the major part of the film load transport system. Filmload 20 is wound on reels with its opposite ends anchored in the reelsso the film can be transported between the rollers between which it isexposed for viewing, as can be seen in FIG. 1.

As is apparent from the drawings, the projecting circular end portions18 of either reel 17 can be manually grasped to turn the reel. The dragon the reels is light so these end portions do not need special knobs,grooves or the like in most cases. Knobs (not shown) could be employedif desired, and as indicated subsequently the film load 20 can betransported in either direction which is accomplished by merely graspingthe appropriate end portion of one of the reels.

Normally, the film load 20 will be composed of color transparencies andbackground light is provided through a light admitting aperture 24 inthe flat surface of the case 13 opposite the one containing the viewingwindow 23. A translucent screen 25, such as frosted glass or plastic, isretained over this aperture by employing slotted guides 26 surroundingthis aperture that are formed on the outer surface of the case, as canbe seen in FIG. 3. A subdued background light is provided through thisdiffuser screen for viewing the stereoscopic transparencies when theviewer is oriented toward an appropriate light source.

The remaining ocular portion of the twin track stereoscopic viewer isformed by the binocular eyepiece 12. Its bifurcated structure includesmagnifying lenses 30 retained in the outboard ends of the two tubularlens mounts 31 that are attached to a flat base plate 33 and projectperpendicularly therefrom to form a gap for the bridge of the nose whenthe viewer positioned in front of the users eyes. The optical axis ofeach lens is oriented along the longitudinal axis of its associatedtubular lens mount and each intersects the center of an associatedframing window 32 located in the base plate, a framing window beingprovided for each tubular lens mount. The spacing between the twoparallel optical axes is the conventional inner ocular binoculareyepiece 12 can be mounted on the magazine in a manner allowing it to beshifted from side to side.

Before the binocular eyepiece is assembled with the magazine, it ispreferable to insert a flat backing member 36 with spaced-apartelongated apertures 37 which are sized so they will not obstruct theframing windows 32 of the eyepiece. This carboard blank forms a supportfor the film as it is, transported between the reels and normallyincludes a felt-like coating to prevent film damage on its filmcontacting surface 38. It acts also as a spacer preventing the eyepiecefrom scratching the film as .itis reciprocated in the guide slots 35.

To keep the film load 20 flat against the film contacting surface 38 ofthe backing member 36, idler rollers 21 are respectively located aboveand below its elongate apertures 37 being journaled with pins 22 in theend plates 14 of the viewer, as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 3. Withoutthese rollers, which form a guide system, the curl in the film loadwould tend to cause it to curve out of the viewing plane, i.e., awayfrom the film contacting surface of the backing member.

With'the rails 34 of the binocular eyepiece received in guide slots 35,its base plate covers the viewing window 23 of the aperture. Thus, thefilm load 20 can only be viewed through the framing windows 32 of thebase plate. By having two separate stereoscopic tracks located side byside on the film load, the eyepiece can be shifted to view either trackindependently. Each stereoscopic track A and B (see FIG. 1) consists oftwo spaced-apart rows 39 and 40 of stereoscopic photographic frames,there being four rows of frames in twin stereoscopic film load.

The binocular eyepiece 12 is shifted to view either track A or track Bsince the spacing between the frames in each track is the same as thespacing of the framing windows 32 of the eyepiece. Removable stop pins41 are employed in the edges of the rails 34 so that the eyepiece can bechanged to a new magazine and so it can be easily shifted between thetwo stereoscopic tracks by abutting on the inboard ends of guide slots35 which are spaced to achieve proper registry of the eyepiece with thetracks.

In FIG. 2, broken lines 42 illustrate the position of the eyepiece forviewing track A while the eyepiece is shown in the positionfor viewingtrack B.

Using the twin stereoscopic tracks A and B, it is possible to use theviewer for sequential scenes by following the sequence through track Awhile the film is advanced in one direction and then through track B asthe direction of film transport is reversed. Thus, it is not necessaryto'go through a rewining step in such situa- 4 tions since the end ofthe B track is the identical point as the start of the A track.

Educational and advertising uses of the twin track stereoscopic viewerare also possible whereby scenes or photographs are placed on one trackand a legend is placed on the adjacent frames of the other track. Theviewer wishing photograph being observed merely shifts the eyeplece 12to the adjacent track where the legend is visually displayed.

In the claims:

l. A multi-track stereoscopic viewer comprising: 'a

hollow magazine having a pair of spaced apart reels I disposed therein,a multi-track film having parallel rows of pairs of related stereoscopicimages thereon disposed between said reels, said reels includingextensions projecting from said magazine whereby said reels can bemanually turned to advance the film, said magazine having a viewingaperture whereby a portion of said film is exposed when it istransported between said reels, said hollow magazine having spaced apartguide means disposed therewithin normal to the direction of filmtransport mounted on bothvsides of said viewing aperture and a backingmember including a flat surface fitted in said viewing aperture withspaced apart elongated framing windows therein which cooperate with theguide means to keep said multitrack film wound on said reels flatagainst said surface for viewing; a binocular eyepiece including lensesto optically increase the size of said images slidably mounted on saidmagazine closing said viewing aperture, said eyepiece having a pair ofspaced apart framing windows whereby said eyepiece can be shifted onsaid magazine to adjacent stereoscopic images on said film wherebyrelated stereoscopic images register with said framing windows of saideyepiece when such images are selected; a stop means cooperating withthe magazine to prevent the release of said eyepiece from said magazineand to index it with the several different stereoscopic images of thefilm when it is shifted to different images, said stop means beingremovable to permit the eyepiece to be removed, parallel guides on saidmagazines slidably receiving rail means on the eyepiece, said parallelguides cooperating with the stop means to retain said rail means withinsaid guides, a source of light within the magazine whereby any pair ofimages can be selected and viewed through said eyepiece, said source oflightincluding a light admitting aperture in the magazine remote fromthe viewing aperture which is covered by a translucent diffusing screento provide a subdued source of light within said magazine from lightsources outside the viewer, said backing member being disposed betweensaid multitrack film and the slidably mounted eyepiece to protect thefilm surface, said backing member being apertured to avoid interferencewith the framing windows and having a felt-like film contacting surfaceto prevent film scratching.

information about the stereoscopic,

1. A multi-track stereoscopic viewer comprising: a hollow magazinehaving a pair of spaced apart reels disposed therein, a multi-track filmhaving parallel rows of pairs of related stereoscopic images thereondisposed between said reels, said reels including extensions projectingfrom said magazine whereby said reels can be manually turned to advancethe film, said magazine having a viewing aperture whereby a portion ofsaid film is exposed when it is transported between said reels, saidhollow magazine having spaced apart guide means disposed therewithinnormal to the direction of film transport mounted on both sides of saidviewing aperture and a backing member including a flat surface fitted insaid viewing aperture with spaced apart elongated framing windowstherein which cooperate with the guide means to keep said multi-trackfilm wound on said reels flat against said surface for viewing; abinocular eyepiece including lenses to opTically increase the size ofsaid images slidably mounted on said magazine closing said viewingaperture, said eyepiece having a pair of spaced apart framing windowswhereby said eyepiece can be shifted on said magazine to adjacentstereoscopic images on said film whereby related stereoscopic imagesregister with said framing windows of said eyepiece when such images areselected; a stop means cooperating with the magazine to prevent therelease of said eyepiece from said magazine and to index it with theseveral different stereoscopic images of the film when it is shifted todifferent images, said stop means being removable to permit the eyepieceto be removed, parallel guides on said magazines slidably receiving railmeans on the eyepiece, said parallel guides cooperating with the stopmeans to retain said rail means within said guides, a source of lightwithin the magazine whereby any pair of images can be selected andviewed through said eyepiece, said source of light including a lightadmitting aperture in the magazine remote from the viewing aperturewhich is covered by a translucent diffusing screen to provide a subduedsource of light within said magazine from light sources outside theviewer, said backing member being disposed between said multi-track filmand the slidably mounted eyepiece to protect the film surface, saidbacking member being apertured to avoid interference with the framingwindows and having a felt-like film contacting surface to prevent filmscratching.